AST SpaceMobile stock slides as direct-to-cell race gets louder ahead of BlueBird 7 launch
AST SpaceMobile shares fell 4.3% to $97.75 Tuesday afternoon, underperforming a mostly flat tech sector. The decline followed NTT Docomo’s announcement of an early fiscal 2026 launch for its own satellite-to-phone service in Japan. Traders are focused on AST’s planned BlueBird 7 satellite launch window in late February. Iridium and Globalstar shares were steadier.